I've noticed on some of the Star Wars sites where a poll is put up asking fans what figure they would like to see Hasbro produce and many times now that figure has seen mass release. I thought Hasbro was doing something like that when they put up the B&W templates a while back and had some sort of contest but I guess not.

So now with the news of a possible (if it's legit) release of BT (yes I realize it's Takara not Hasbro) Bluestreak & silver Jazz I started thinking...

Why not just ask what people want??? I mean it dosen't have to be set in stone. Just put up a poll with a number of possible repaints (Blue Rumble, Gold Ravage, or even a neon green Skids, etc)to see which would be most popular. (I didn't say new molds 'cuz I know what we'd all pick). Just my $0.02.

How about a poll where WE determine which upcoming Animated & Universe figures will be released first,
-OR-
vote for what the future rosters/waves of upcoming figures will be? (have say, Grimlock come out with Voyager Prime in wave 3, jazz come out with oilslick in wave 4, etc.)

Engineering and designing a Transformers may take much longer through the production process than 1 small Star Wars figure.

So, the only way I could see a fan's choice figure working out quickly enough, is what KA suggested for a poll of potential repaints, and possibly with choices of repaints of re-molded/retooled parts & heads.

Regardless of the outcome, I really do like this Fan's Choice idea for Transformers. Now seems like the right time to go forth with the idea, especially considering how much of the Transformers Brand is currently a money-making juggernaut.

- More of the SW fandom and toy market is adults, especially as SW has been kinda dead in the kiddie marketplace since Ep3. Transformers is continuously reinvented, advertised by kids media, and kids make up 80-90% of the market.

- SW figures, even most alien ones, are crazy-easy to create. Get a sculptor to whack something together on the standard toy base model that's been used a zillion times, start cranking 'em out. Transformers you can't do that with as easily - designs are a lot harder to come up with, safety approval takes longer because of the wide variance in designs, and the turnaround from suggestion to availability of toy is longer. Not to mention that in order to subsequently sell well enough to justify the cost, the character often has to be worked into the TV series, which is a whole other set of problems. Even with straight repaints, the artistic effort required could be more profitably put towards something aimed at kids, not collectors.

- Hasbro is not the only maker of Star Wars figures. Star Wars is not a house brand, and the license can be given to other toy makers or spread across a number of toy companies. Transformers, on the other hand, is very nearly a monopoly, unless you want to import stuff from Japan at twice the price or collect Korean knockoffs. Hasbro's not competing with other sources of Transformer production for our dollars - they don't have to do fan research to get a larger slice of the Transformers pie.

- In short, adult Transformers fans are always going to be at the mercy of the necessity to market Transformers to kids first, collectors second. Star Wars has a much greater proportion (and number) of adults in fandom and their opinions (and pocketbooks) carry more weight with the product makers. There's just not the same impetus for Hasbro to give a flying damn what some random internet poll might think was cool.

If we really do want Hasbro to take our suggestions on board, we have a lot more ground work to do.

- More of the SW fandom and toy market is adults, especially as SW has been kinda dead in the kiddie marketplace since Ep3. Transformers is continuously reinvented, advertised by kids media, and kids make up 80-90% of the market.

Click to expand...

I was just going to say that, for a SW fan poll they are targeting their market which is grown up fans, whether for TFs, kids are their market.

Optimus was the obvious choice, though. He's the one Transformer the general public is most likely to remember from the 80s, he's consistently polled high as a fan favorite even amongst the most jaded groups, and he's practically iconic in Japan, at least amongst adult toyfans/collectors.

I can't think of any other character who has the recognition factor to be a silver anniversary special, at least by themselves. Even Megatron or Bumblebee.